Harmful tinkering with pensions

In the battle to control pension costs, some State Assembly and Senate members keep creating roadblocks.

There are more than 50 bills before one or both houses that would cost the state and other public entities billions. The worst proposal would return the method of determining benefit eligibility to the extravagant Tier 1 pension method that nearly broke the public purse in the 1970s. Nearly as bad is a proposal to allow all public school teachers to receive up to five years of pension credit for teaching in private schools. These, though, are no-hope bills, introduced to satisfy the unions that contribute to their sponsors' political campaigns.

But a saner-sounding bill that would let school districts borrow against the future investment returns of the pension fund to pay current pension obligations must be taken more seriously. It's quite dangerous since, as we've seen over the past few years, pension funds sometimes lose value rather than amassing profit. This bill is sponsored in the Assembly by Peter Abbate Jr. (D-Brooklyn), head of the governmental employees committee, and in the Senate by Martin Golden (R-Brooklyn), head of the pension committee, both public union favorites. Similarly foolish laws have been passed to ease funding requirements of municipal, county and police pensions.

Don't be fooled into paying attention to the wackiest bills. It's often the ones that sound almost sensible, supported by powerful people, that must be actively opposed.